New York Icons: Tribeca
& Civic Center
About
Originally the Lower West Side and renamed in 1974 to TriBeCa (Triangle Below Canal Street) — even though the area is actually a trapezoid. Manhattan’s most expensive, safest, and smallest (around 10,000 residents) neighborhood — a popular filming location.
Former Dutch West Indies pastures during the 1600’s, owned by the Duke of York then Trinity Church before being acquired by the City of New York in 1795 for $5! First residents in the late 1700s, the mid-1800s evolved from small private houses to a commercial center selling dry goods and textiles in tall cast-iron buildings (to prevent fire) with store fronts, showrooms, and storage for goods in huge lofts. In 1941, Robert Moses unsuccessfully tried to construct a Lower Manhattan Expressway along Broome St. In the 1960s abandoned lofts attracted artists, 1980s saw the fine dining restaurant invasion, and now multi-million dollar condominiums.
In 2002, reportedly (may have begun prior) following 9/11 Robert De Niro helped establish the annual Tribeca Film Festival — which features films, documentaries, shorts, panel discussions, workshops, video games, and awards. During the inaugural festival Nelson Mandela gave the opening speech and Liam Neeson walked the streets giving out free tickets! Screened the final episode of Friends and in 2007 premiered the first film shot on a phone. Attracts 3–4 million visitors.
Celebrities residents include Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Jessica Biel, Justin Timberlake, Mariah Carey, Jennifer Connelly, Daniel Craig, Billy Crystal, Robert DeNiro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Heather Graham, Derek Jetter, Scarlett Johansson, Harvey Keitel, Kid Cudi, David Letterman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Daniel Radcliffe, Jon Stewart, Meryl Streep, Taylor Swift, Uma Thurman, and Kate Winslet! Former celebrities include Bette Midler, Cyndi Lauper, Martin Scorsese and Meryl Streep.
* Asterisk denotes a place I haven’t yet visited properly.
Map
Broadway
№226 West Broadway is the former Department of Water Supply with unique hydrant and pipe decorations on the facade (1912).
№259 is the site of the first Tiffany store, which stood above the city’s first subway — the Beach Pneumatic Transit — which went only a single stop powered by a giant fan. The tunnel was dug in just 58 days in secret during the night (as the permit for a subway was denied by Tammany Hall) and the completed station featured a fountain, frescos, and coy pond. Over 400,000 riders over three years before the tunnel was closed off — where it was used as a shooting gallery and wine cellar before being rediscovered in 1912 (rotted remains of the round wooden car and waiting room piano)! A precursor to the pneumatic tube mail system and Elon Musk’s Hyperloop project.
№270 was the first office of the Manhattan Project.
№280 was the new (after №283) A.T. Steward Store and first to use large display windows (with glass imported from France), and the first commercial building to use Italianate architecture and marble (earning it the nickname “Marble Palace”). Headquarters of the New York Sun until (“When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news.”) it ceased publication in 1950. Two old ornamental clocks tell the time and temperature and bear the Sun motto “The Sun Shines for All.”
№283 was the site of America’s first purpose-built department store, the A.T. Stewart Store — the first to have fixed prices, sales, fashion shows and changing rooms with full-length mirrors.
№359 had the gallery of the famous Civil War photographer, Mathew Brady’s.
№366 is The Broadway Textile (Broadway-Franklin) Building, which is ringed with female ornamental heads, snakes and Egyptian design.
№412 once was the Apollo Rooms, where the New York Philharmonic (America’s oldest symphony orchestra) played it’s first concert.
Streets
Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue). №21 was Magoo’s, an art bar where Jeff Koons hung out during his stockbroker days that was eventually sold, shipped to Japan, and reconstructed piece by piece!
Chambers Street. №121 was the location of the Lower Manhattan Ocean Club — a 1976 music venue that hosted The Talking Heads, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, and the B-52’s. Between Broadway and Center Street (exact address unknown) was Palmo’s Opera House (demolished 1876) — one of the earliest city opera houses (1843), then one of the earliest (1848) Broadway theaters (Burton’s Theater, Chambers Street Theatre in 1856).
Church Street. №158 was the Mother African Methodist Episcopal Church or “Freedom Church” — the first (founded 1796) black church in the US. A stop along the underground railroad. The first Bishop was James Varick (of Varick Street) and patrons included Frederick Douglass (abolitionist) and Harriet Tubman (future $20 bill). Relocated to Harlem in 1925. Cnr. Leonard Street was the Italian Opera House (1833 to 1839), the city’s first dedicated opera house.
Cortlandt Alley (1817) is the archetypical New York alley often used in movies and music videos (e.g. Vampire Weekend’s Cousins) due to the scarcity of Manhattan back alleys and it’s unusual length (three blocks). Once housed the largest table tennis facility (6,000 square feet underground) in New York!
Greenwich Street. №292 was formerly New York Vauxhall Gardens — a “pleasure garden” opened by Samuel Fraunces (of Frances Tavern) and named after a London entertainment spot; it ran between 1767 and 1798 before moving to Broome St. A garden country club melting pot of elite and working-class, it offered an outdoor theatre, restaurants, summer concerts, outdoor wax museum…and the latest craze — ice-cream! №339 was Bazzini, a 125-year nut retailer (sold at Yankee Stadium since 1923) that ran a store in Tribeca from 1968 until 2009.
Hudson Street. №200 has a plaque recognizing one of George Washington’s many frequented areas. A true north arrow has been embedded into the sidewalk since the 1800s.
Laight Street. №79 contains the oldest storage facility in the area — the United States Sugar Building (also named the Sugar Warehouse), which was built in 1853.
Leonard Street. №66 is The Textile Building, a former textile showroom constructed in 1901. №108 was the legendary 10,000 square-foot Clocktower art gallery, which ran for over 40 years (closed 2013). Exhibitions included a dead German shepherd on an electric organ (rigor mortis changed the tones), a chocolate-covered cellist (Easter), and an artist showering while hanging from the clock face. Patrons could climb the spiral staircase inside the giant clock.
№85 Leonard St was the Kitchen, Montross & Wilcox Store — selling Italian dry goods and one of the few surviving James Bogardus cast-iron buildings (built in 1861).
Lispenard Street. №36 was once the home of David Ruggles — a free black man and one of the city’s most influential abolitionists who ran a printing press, reading room and underground railroad terminal that transported 600 slaves to freedom — including Frederick Douglass who was married in the house. A plaque is affixed to the current building. №44 was erected 1866 and №.60 (“The Wannamaker”) in 1895.
Murray Street. №75 is the city’s oldest existing cast-iron building. On the corner of West St stood the city’s first cast-iron building — its facade dismantled in 1971 and put in storage, but was stolen!
Park Row. №21–23 was the city’s only theatre in the 1820s, New Theatre, which was later renamed The Park Theatre in 1826 following the opening of The Chatham Garden Theatre (1823) and Bowery Theatre (1826). Upscale playhouse featuring English drama (importing English actors) an Italian opera. Burnt down in 1848.
Reade Street. №93 is the city’s second-oldest cast iron building and currently a development named Obsidian House.
Staple Street. Boasts a 1907 cast-iron skybridge three stories up, which connected two parts of the New York Hospital. It currently connects a five bedroom apartment worth $50 million.
Warren Street. №59 was Raccoon Lodge, a dive bar that ran for 33 years (closed 2015). №60 was originally known as the Munitions Building (1882); in 2000 a five-story townhouse was built on top and sold for $3 million.
Washington Street. №451 is a 1892 neo-Flemish building and former 1980s French eatery, Capsouto Freres. Closed in 2013 due to Hurricane Sandy, it housed an old wooden phone booth in the basement.
White Street. №17 was the Alternative Museum between 1980 and 1991. Over its 25-year history it hosted more than 2,700 artists.
№77 was The Mudd Club (1978–83), an underground rock club named for the doctor who treated John Wilkes Booth’s broken leg sustained while escaping Lincoln’s assassination (the stick used to set the broken leg was called “Mudd’s Club”). Frequented by the B-52s, Talking Heads, Ramones, Frank Zappa, Lou Reed, David Byrne, Nico, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Madonna (dating at the time), Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Andy Warhol, David Bowie and Keith Haring (who curated a gallery within). Commemorative plaque installed 2007.
Worth Street. №73 contains a row of townhouses built in 1865. In 2016, a crane collapsed into the street — miraculously killing just the operator. The street is nicknamed the “Avenue of the Strongest” because it contains the Department of Sanitation, which is nicknamed “New York’s Strongest.”
Liberty Pole* (1770)
A tall wooden pole planted in the ground as a symbol of discord — starting with the assassination of Julius Caesar and erected in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War. For ten years, a violent struggle between the Sons of Liberty and the British over liberty poles took place and eventually leading to the Battle of Golden Hill — the first blood (no deaths) spilled during the Revolution (prior to the Boston Massacre). After the battle, the last (80ft) liberty pole was raised.
Duane Park (1795)
Purchased from Trinity Church for five dollars and named for James Duane, an important parishioner at Trinity Church.
J. Crew “Liquor Store”* (1809)
One of the oldest surviving houses in Manhattan, the Dutch-style Gideon Tucker House was rumored to have a basement dance hall called “Shadow City” during the Civil War. Liquor store then bar during the 1980s, but in 1990 a mosque opened nearby resulting in the liquor license being revoked (New York forbids selling alcohol within 200 feet of a house of worship). Currently a J. Crew — but with the exterior intact, original wood bar, and photographs on display.
Tribeca Park (1810)
Formerly Beach Street Park (renamed in 1985).
New York City Hall* (1811)
The oldest city hall in the US and office of the mayor. The Governor’s Room has hosted President-elect Abraham Lincoln, Marquis de Lafayette and Albert Einstein. After their deaths, the lying in state location of Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant. Houses one of the most important collections of 19th century American portraiture and includes notable artifacts such as George Washington’s desk and John Trumbull’s portrait of Alexander Hamilton featured on the $10 bill.
In 2003, an elected official assassinated a political rival using a pistol from the balcony before being shot and killed. Featured in Ghostbusters and Spin City (TV). Tours available.
City Hall Park was originally a pasture called The Commons, the site of the first hanging by the British in 1691, and the first mass public demonstration against the British. Between 1766 and 1770 five liberty poles were raised but soon torn down. Between Murray and Warren Streets is a very low brick wall marking the boundaries the Bridewell — a prison where American prisoners of war were held by the British. The prison’s provost marshal (i.e. chief) later confessed he had starved prisoners and executed 275. A 66-foot tall replica of the 1767 sawed-off liberty pole was installed in 1921, a gift of the Sons of the Revolution. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read on the Commons to George Washington and his troops. In 1842, the opening of the Croton Aqueduct was celebrated by a 50ft fountain jet from a specialty-built fountain in the park. In 1857, the New York City Police Riot (Great Police Riot at the time) between the recently dissolved New York Municipal Police and the newly formed Metropolitan Police in front of City Hall!
Foley Square* (1811)
Named for a saloon keeper and Tammany Hall politician, it sits on the site of Collect Pond — an early site of fresh water (60ft deep and said to contain sea monsters) before becoming polluted and subsequently filled in. However, the underground springs continued to rise and the area became knee-deep in foul-smelling mud leading to a middle-class exodus and the birth of New York’s most notorious slum around the junction…the Five Points. Even today the site requires regular pumping of the rising spring water.
Five Points (named after a five-pointed intersection) gained international notoriety (rivaling London’s East End) as a disease-ridden, crime-infested slum (alleged highest murder rate of any slum in the world) that existed for well over 70 years — America’s first melting pot. Home to gangs such as the Roach Guards (dubbed the Dead Rabbits by the media although no such gang existed) and Bowery Boys. Riots in 1834 (anti-abolitionist Farren Riots), 1857 (Dead Rabbits Riot, 800–1,000 gang members) and 1863 (Draft Riots). One of the areas was known as “Paradise Square.”
Harrison Street Houses* (1790–1820)
Federal townhouses originally located on Washington St before being moved and restored in the 1970s. Currently private homes.
St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church (1840)
The oldest Roman Catholic parish in New York and replacement of an earlier 1786 church, which was a gift from King Charles III of Spain. The first free Catholic school and place of worship of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton — the first native-born American saint. On Christmas Eve 1806, a Protestant melee resulted dozens injured and one policeman killed.
During 9/11 a portion of landing gear struck the roof and the first location for emergency operations. The first publicly identified casualty was Father Mychal Judge, chaplain for the New York City Fire Department — he was brought by surviving firemen and laid before the altar. Martial law was lifted for the first mass after the attacks. The World Trade Center cross — steel beams found among the debris resembling a cross — temporarily sat on the Church Street side of St. Peter’s until moved to the World Trade Center Memorial.
Cosmopolitan Hotel* (1845)
Railway hotel formerly Girard House (renamed 1869) then Bond Hotel (until 1989). Possibly the city’s oldest hotel it originally featured a New Orleans-styled ringed balcony, some of the first telephones in guest rooms, and an Otis Brothers elevator (inventors of the first elevator). In 1967, a customer was murdered over 2 cents. The building has been substantially modified with the interior almost entirely redone. Contrary to popular mythology, Abraham Lincoln did not stay here while campaigning during the 1860 presidential election.
Cary Building* (1857)
An Italianate dry goods warehouse that once featured more than 1,500 items and famed cast-iron facades by Daniel D. Badger. One of the first Italianate-style city buildings and first in the world to employ rolling security shudders. Once home to The New York Sun newspaper.
Swift, Seaman & Co. Building (1857)
Former saddlery hardware and harness company. Since 1973, site of the Poster Museum — a vintage poster gallery and store with an inventory of over 500,000 artifacts.
AMEX Building* (1866)
Site of the original American Express Company stables — back when they delivered packages and telegraphs via stagecoach. Facade includes a bulldog holding a key, which was the company symbol in the late 19th century. A popular nightclub called Area during the 1980s.
Tweed Courthouse* (1872)
Officially the Old New York County Courthouse, it’s the second-oldest city government building in Manhattan after City Hall and was funded by the infamous “Boss” Tweed — one of the most corrupt politicians in US history (embezzled an estimated $75 million). Construction was halted when details of the corruption were disclosed to the public, and his trial ironically took place in one of the unfinished courtrooms! Currently the Department of Education. Featured in Gangs of New York, Dressed to Kill and Kramer vs Kramer.
Old New York Mercantile Exchange Building* (1886)
Named for the commodities exchange that grew out of the older Butter, Cheese and Egg Exchange. In 1882, it expanded to include additional commodities and was renamed NYMEX. Relocated in 1994.
Potter Building* (1886)
The first building to use fire-resistant terra-cotta. Site of a former New York World building, which was commissioned by Joseph Pulitzer (whose office was located in an enormous dome at the top) and the first building to surpass the height of Trinity Church. Played host to Edison’s first public demonstration of the phonograph (the first machine to record and reproduce sound).
Powell Building* (1892)
Once the New York headquarters for the Baker’s Chocolate Company, the shop windows that once displayed confections also housed high-end Japanese restaurant Nobu (part-owned by Robert De Niro) from 1994 until 2017.
Former New York Life Insurance Building* (1894)
The “Clock Tower Building” was topped with a 33-foot, eight-ton sculpture consisting of four 11-foot crouching Atlas figures carrying a 15-foot hollow globe topped with a 7-foot eagle. The sculpture was removed in 1947 before going missing!
The largest clock mechanism in the US. Since 1979, the city Clockmaster has wound the clock on weekly basis. Currently a courthouse with visits inside the clock available.
American Thread Building* (1896)
Originally the Wool Exchange Building, it housed the NY Wool Exchange (similar to the NYSE) and SVA exhibition space. In 1981, it was one of the first warehouse-to-condo conversions in Tribeca. In 2007, during renovations a large Keith Haring (former SVA student) mural was discovered where it remains a feature of the apartment.
Park Row Building* (1899)
15 Park Row was one of the first skyscrapers located on what was known at the time as “Newspaper Row” — the center of the newspaper industry for 80 years beginning in the 1840s (New York Herald, New York Times, New York Tribune, New York World). The first headquarters of the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) and the first office of the Associated Press. In 1920, an anarchist held in police custody in connection with a series of bombings fell to his death from the 14th floor — police claim he jumped. The twin copper domes at the top served as observatories.
Firehouse, Hook & Ladder Company 8 (1902)
FDNY station featured in the film Ghostbusters after an early draft of the script envisaged the Ghostbusters as a public service; much like the fire department. A logo from the second film hangs on the inside wall along with other memorabilia.
In the 2016 reboot, a rental agent shows the building to the team when they are starting but they reject it upon learning that the rent is $21,000 per month! Appears in a Seinfeld episode, the film Hitch, and the third-largest Lego set.
Surrogate’s Courthouse* (1907)
The Hall of Records (renamed 1962) was designed to be fireproof in order to store the city’s paper records. Featuring 54 sculptures (New York in Its Infancy, New York in Revolutionary Times, Philosophy, Law, The Seasons, Peter Stuyvesant, DeWitt Clinton, David Pietersen De Vries, James Duane), a three-story interior courtyard with marble double staircase, mosaic zodiac murals, and elaborate courtrooms. Above the entrance are reproduced seals of New York from 1623 (New Netherland), 1654 (New Amsterdam), 1686 (granted municipal rights), and 1784 (post-Revolution). The current seal is not featured as it was introduced in 1915.
Woolworth Building (1912)
“The Cathedral of Commerce” is the former Woolworth headquarters and former tallest building in the world. Story has it Woolworth was once denied a mortgage by the Metropolitan Life Insurance, who had the tallest building up until that point. Opened by President Wilson who turned on the lights from a button in D.C.
The building features a terra-cotta exterior, mezzanine balconies featuring murals Labor and Commerce, stained glass ceiling, and sculptures of Gilbert (architect) and Woolworth. On opening it boasted high-speed elevators, a 57th floor observation deck (closed in 1941), luxury retail shops, bank, basement bathhouse, basement restaurant, and its own subway entrance.
In 1913, the Original Dixieland Jass Band recorded their first jazz album in a Columbia Records studio within the building. Woolworth headquarters for 85 years until it’s bankruptcy. Appears in film The Great Gatsby. Woolworth’s private office has been preserved, while the top levels are being converted to luxury apartments culminating in a five-story penthouse with an asking price of $110 million!
First Precinct Station House* (1912)
Originally the Fourth Precinct (a carved inscription remains), it encompasses an area of only one square mile containing a wide array of commercial, residential and tourist attractions. Three of four original cast-iron lanterns remain and police horses still occupy the stables.
Manhattan Municipal Building* (1914)
Renamed in 2015 to the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building, it’s one the largest government building in the world with over 2,000 employees and 1 million square feet. The first skyscraper built by the then largest architectural firm in the world at the time, McKim, Mead & White. The first government building to incorporate a subway station. Traffic once flowed through the central arch and 16,000 weddings were performed here annually — each lasting an average of four minutes! Seen in the films Crocodile Dundee and The Professional.
In 1913, to celebrate the consolidation of the five boroughs into the City of New York, Civic Duty (a 25ft gilded copper statue) was installed at the top of the building. The second-largest statue in the city behind the Statue of Liberty. In 1936, the left arm fell off and through a skylight on the 26th floor. In 1991, the statue was re-gilded in 23.5 karat gold and hoisted back by helicopter.
Finn Square (1919)
Triangle park named for “Battery Dan” — a Tammany Hall politician — and his son, a member of the 69th Fighting Irish regiment during WWI.
Teddy’s (1920s, demolished 2004)
A 1920s German restaurant believed to have been built on a site where Edgar Allan Poe had once lived. Popular with celebrities (Elizabeth Taylor, Groucho Marx, Anthony Quinn, Sophia Loren) during the 50s and 60s it supposedly closed due to Mafia connections.
In 1985 it became the US first tapas bar and artistic project, El Internacional. With a Dalmatian facade, crushed Coke cans embedded in the sidewalk, the entrance floor comprising of flags, one of the first open kitchens in the city, an oversized aquarium, mermaids surrounded by cutlery, a dining room filled with lipstick kisses (the restaurant provided lipstick to diners), a large 1950s radio (always on) in the bathrooms, blue margaritas (invented here), menus with essays (e.g. the evolution of the fork), and a 1.25 ton replica of the Statue of Liberty crown — which featured in the opening of Saturday Night Live.
A cultural destination, unusual museum, adventurous cuisine, and social spectacle. Events included 70 pairs of twins on Valentine’s Day seated in front of identical dishes but with different tastes and the Porrón Olympics (wine poured directly into the mouth). Notable guests included Andy Warhol, Sara Montiel, Jean Michel Basquiat, Pina Bausch, Robert de Niro, David Byrne, Umberto Eco, Antonio Gades, Keith Haring, Michael Douglas, Grace Jones, Diane Keaton, John Kennedy, David Lynch, and Frank Zappa.
Sold in 1987 it became El Teddy’s (Mexican) before being demolished in 2004.
60 Hudson Street* (1930)
Former Western Union Building occupying the entire block and employing 19 shades of brown brick. The nexus of worldwide communication during the heyday of the telegraph, it’s now home to over 65 major telecom providers and 1,000 telecom companies — the nerve center for international communication. Houses seventy million feed of conduit, 7,500 liters of diesel and 300,000 liters of fuel oil. In 2012, trading equipment was installed in buildings nearby in order to conduct trades microseconds quicker than Wall Street a mile away.
Holland Tunnel (1927)
Connecting New York to New Jersey and originally known as the Hudson River Vehicular Tunnel or Canal Street Tunnel. Renamed for the chief engineer who died of a heart attack the day before the two halves of the tunnel were scheduled to be linked, which led the cancelation of President Coolidge’s plan to remotely trigger an explosion to connect the two sides.
Formerly St. John’s Park — a park and surrounding neighborhood until 1866, when it became the St. John’s Park Freight Depot. The inner part of the Holland Tunnel exit rotary is still referred to as “St. John’s Park” but is not a park, nor accessible to pedestrians. Site of St. John’s Rotary Arc by Richard Serra from 1980 to 1987, and Joie de Vivre by Mark di Suvero between 1998 and 2006.
Taking seven years and claiming 14 lives it was the first mechanically ventilated underwater vehicular tunnel (Edison contended it was impossible) and longest underwater tunnel in the world. The tunnel opened with President Coolidge ceremonially opening the tunnel from his yacht by turning the same key that had “opened” the Panama Canal in 1915. Vehicles were allowed to pass through the tunnel at one minute after midnight, with the the first truck being a Bloomingdale’s delivery truck followed by the widows of Chief Engineers Holland and Freeman.
In 1949, a truck chemical fire caused enormous damage. In 1955, a narrow one-man miniature electric car was developed for policemen to patrol the tunnel from the catwalk. Following 9/11 the tunnel remained closed to all but emergency traffic for over a month. Featured in the film, Daylight.
New York State Supreme Court Building* (1927)
Originally the New York County Courthouse it features a 140-foot colonnade comprised of thirteen figures — including Law, Truth, and Equity. The inscription “The True Administration of Justice is the Firmest Pillar of Good Government” is from a letter written by George Washington, but was actually a slight misquote by the architect (“due” not “true”).
Steps leading to the entrance are flanked by the 1906 statues of Justice and Authority. The rotunda is 200 feet across, 75 feel tall, and features ten stained-glass windows and the 1936 circular mural Law Through the Ages — also called The History of the Law. There are also murals by the same artist in the Jury Assembly Rooms and Ceremonial Courtroom. Seen in the films Miracle on 34th Street, The Godfather, Wall Street, and GoodFellas.
Verizon Building* (100 Chambers) (1927)
Previously the Barclay-Vesey Building and the New York Telephone Company Building, the lobby features marble walls and ceiling murals depicting the progression of human communication. One of the world’s tallest buildings on completion and largest telephone building in the world (1.2 million square-feet). Five sub-basement levels house communications equipment. Considered the first Art Deco skyscraper, it was the first to feature integrated air-conditioning. The covered sidewalk is a rarity in New York.
Home to Charlie Sheen, Blake Lively and Ryan Seacrest.
Transportation Building* (1927)
Site of the first luxury hotel in New York and the best-known and prestigious hotel in America, Astor House. Opened in 1836 and built by Jacob Astor, it occupied a full city block and had gaslights fueled by the hotel’s own plant, bathing and toilet facilities on each floor (unheard of at the time), and a basement printing press for the daily menus.
Unaccompanied women were not permitted to enter to deter prostitutes from nearby brothels. Notable guests include Matthew Brady (Civil Wall photographer), William James (“Father of American psychology”), Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (poet, Paul Revere’s Ride), Nathaniel Parker Willis (author and poet), Abraham Lincoln (on his way to his inauguration, Confederate sympathizers set fire to the hotel). Demolished in 1926.
AT&T Long Distance Building* (1932)
The lobby contains a tiled map of the world and Canal Street subway station. Houses an bandwidth convergent facility for over fifty carriers known as The Hub and the offices of the Tribeca Film Festival. Nearly windowless in order to survive a nuclear attack. Once housed American Express and New York Hospital.
Square Diner* (1940s)
The former Triangle Diner (1922) turned train-car diner. Featured in the TV shows Daredevil and Gotham.
Puffy’s Tavern* (1945)
Named after a Navy veteran, reopened 2005 and stripped of character. :(
Fountain Pen Hospital* (1946)
Pen retailer and basement repair area!
Duane Reade* (1960)
The pharmacy’s first warehouse and full-service drugstore, which takes its name from the cross streets. Now over 250 locations.
Tribeca Synagogue* (1967)
Formerly the Synagogue for the Arts (renamed 2013).
Sugar House Prison Window* (1968)
Originally part of the five-story Sugar House built in 1763 at the corner of Duane and Rose Streets. It functioned as a British prison during the war, where twice as many Americans died in prison than on the battlefield due to poor conditions. The window was saved and incorporated into the new Rhinelander building in 1892, then again in the current location at Police Plaza. Another section of identical wall-and-window is on display at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
Jacob K. Javits Federal Building (1969)
The tallest federal building in the US and containing the FBI, Homeland Security, and Social Security. In 1989, an artwork by Richard Serra, Tilted Arc, was controversially removed from the plaza and is currently in storage pending a lawsuit.
One Police Plaza* (1973)
“1PP” is the NYPD headquarters, which contains the Major Case Squad and Real Time Crime Center — an anti-crime data warehouse and search engine. Since 2001, Park Row has been closed to civilian traffic to protect the headquarters from a truck bomb.
AT&T Long Lines Building* (1974)
A 550-foot high windowless fortress that handled 175 million calls per day and was built to withstand the fallout from a nuclear blast for up to two weeks. Described as one of the city’s ugliest buildings, it currently still holds switching equipment and a secure data center.
Metropolitan Correctional Center (1975)
The first high-rise facility to be used by the Bureau of Prisons that has housed John Gotti and Jackie D’Amico (Gambino crime bosses), Frank Lucas (drug kingpin), Bernard Madoff, Omar Abdel Rahman and Ramzi Yousef (terrorists), Victor Bout (weapons trafficker), Joaquín “el Chapo” Guzmán (Mexican drug lord) and Ross “Dread Pirate Roberts” Ulbricht (founder of Silk Road).
Former site of The Chatham Garden Theatre, a playhouse from 1824 to 1832 (started as a tent in 1823 as perhaps the first US summer theatre) only accessible by passing through private buildings! The roughest reputation of the city’s three big theaters (along with Park and Bowery) it was known for fistfights, drunken brawls and open prostitution. In 1832, converted to the Free Presbyterian Chatham Street Chapel — site of the first national Sunday School convention in the US.
The Odeon (1980)
Originally a diner named Towers Cafeteria (1938), it’s the longest-running restaurant distinctly not known for its cuisine. A fashionable upscale party spot (one of the first in the area) during the 80s with a tiny service room under the stairs and downstairs elevator to the street. Appeared in the opening credits of Saturday Night Live and on the cover of the novel Bright Lights, Big City. Birthplace of the iconic Cosmopolitan (“Cosmo”) cocktail by Toby Cecchini in 1987.
Celebrity patrons included Philippe Petit (tightrope walk between Twin Towers), John Belushi (who would walk into the kitchen and cook), Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Dan Aykroyd, Diane von Furstenberg, Rick James, Harvey Keitel, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Bill de Blasio, Bono, Kim Kardashian and Kanye.
Washington Market Park* (1983)
Named after the former Washington Market (1813) located nearby, which functioned as the city’s largest wholesale food market (closed 1960s). Originally planned as a parking lot.
BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center (1983)
Largest performing arts complex in lower Manhattan with a 913-seat theatre.
Walker’s* (1987)
Old-world 1880s building housing various bars and restaurants over the years.
388 Greenwich Street* (1988)
Originally the Shearson Lehman Plaza and the Travelers Building, it was one of the few buildings with double-deck elevators. In 1997, a 50-foot neon red umbrella was mounted near the top while a 16-foot steel umbrella stood at street level (removed 2007).
Dream House* (1989)
Private home containing a small room that has been playing a single tone comprised on thirty-one sine waves 24/7 since 1989! During the 1960s housed 14 turtles in a giant makeshift aquarium. Visits available.
Bubby’s (1990)
Restaurant and pie shop.
Tribeca Grill* (1990)
Co-owned by Robert De Niro, with paintings of his father on the walls. Wine list comprising over 2,300 bottles and the large mahogany bar transplanted from iconic restaurant, Maxwell’s Plum, which closed abruptly in 1988. De Niro can often be spotted dining, but the food is considered sub-par given the price.
Tribeca Tower* (1991)
Former tallest building (52-stories) in Tribeca.
The Flea Theatre* (1996)
Small 74-seat theatre and former home of the Collective for Living Cinema — an avant-garde cinema in the 1980s and 90s.
Hudson River Park (1998)
Second-biggest park in Manhattan (after Central Park). Replacement project in the wake of the abandoned Westway Highway.
Roxy Hotel (2000)
Formerly the Tribeca Grand Hotel (renamed 2015) and sister hotel to the Soho Grand Hotel. Hosted live performances LCD Soundsystem and The XX. Contains an underground cinema and jazz club, Django ($8 cocktails). Old-fashioned clock outside. A thief posing as a valet stole a guest’s car…worth only $4,500.
The Mysterious Bookshop (2005)
The country’s oldest (started 1979 on Friday 13th) independent purveyor of mystery literature with a sign reading “Nobody shoplifts from a store that knows 3,214 ways to murder someone.”
African Burial Ground National Monument (2006)
Monument and visitor center (second explorer to sail into New York and first settler were both half African) standing on the site of the oldest and largest (an estimated 15,000 bodies) African cemetery in colonial America. Rediscovered in 1991, a black granite monument contains 419 exhumed remains.
Pier 25 & 26 (2008)
Waterfront esplanade, skate park, basketball court, miniature golf course, beach volleyball courts, winery, artificial lawn, and free kayak rental (from the Downtown Boathouse). Historic ships moored between the piers function as a bar. Statue of Liberty in the distance.
Mmuseumm (2012)
“Mmuseumm Alley” is a modern natural history museum located in an former paper warehouse freight elevator shaft. Dedicated to the curation and exhibition of contemporary artifacts. Displays have included mislabeled food containers, toothpastes from around the world, discovered polaroids, objects found on the bottom of the Pacific ocean, Russian watches, matchboxes, paperweights, nameplates from the UN General Assembly and an assortment of business cards. In 2015, Mmuseumm 2 opened three doors down.
Aire Ancient Baths (2012)
16,000-square-foot basement of a former textile factory (built 1883), the third location (first in Seville 2004 in a sixteenth-century palace with original Roman baths) that combines Greek (individual preferences), Roman (cold “frigidaria” to hot “caldaria”), Ottoman and Arab (steam, hot stones) soaking traditions.
Six pools (between 46°F/7°C and 102°F/39°C), salt scrub, steam room, heated rocks, massage, and infused (red wine, cava, olive oil) private baths. Only twenty people admitted at a time, lit by candles alone, special slippers, and white marble and stone imported from Spain.
56 Leonard Street (2017)
Tallest structure in Tribeca with a $47 million dollar penthouse. Nicknamed the “Jenga Building.”
